brimstone from heaven vpon those infamous citties of Sodome and Gomorrha Sinne many examples more I could bring out of the old Testament as deaths of private men Princes submersions of armies dispersions of Countries mortalitie of thousands famin warres plagues captivities and imprisonments for no other cause inflicted than wickednesse and sinne but let vs only fixe our eies vpon the Sonne of God nayled vpon the Crosse and we shall see how sinne mangled his body and afflicted his soule those nayles teares streames of blood exclamations gall and paines are monuments of sinne and memories of our perverse and wicked life 26 Above all other evils incident to an evill life of great force to restraine our vntoward willes from vice is the extreame iniurie we offer to God by sinne transgressing his lawe perverting his order disposition and providence iniuring his infinite goodnes which ought of all creatures to be beloved despising his Maiestie to which as to their last end all men ought to direct their actions And finally shewing our selves vngratefull to his love the which ought to be affected with all submission obedience and gratitude 27 What can more deterre men from wickednesse then their owne private losse or move them more to vertue then their owne present gaine By vice our soules are spoyled of their riches their most precious robes heavenly attire by vertue they are apparelled by vice they are wounded even to the centre by vertue they are healed by vice they are impoverished by vertue enriched by vice they are defiled by vertue cleansed by vice they become dennes of devils by vertue seates of Angels 28 But some will obiect the soule is spirituall and her losses cannot so well be perceived but if we had some palpable sensible motives to draw vs from vice to vertue then the case would be altered But sensible reasons want not and no day or hower passeth wherein appeareth not some silent sermon or reall perswasion to avoyd sinne and follow goodnes Do we not see dayly men dye is not death of the body caused by the death of the soule is it not an effect of Adams originall disobedience Whence-from proceed so many diseases plagues and pestilences that Phisitians braines are troubled to know their number for the multitude or reduce them to method they are so disordered But say what brought first hunger and thirst sweate and labour toyling and moyling into this world but our forefathers gluttonie What made so many poore men such a number of beggars but Adams originall theft what causeth our dayes to be so short that many drop away in the very prime of their yeeres few come to the time their complexion requireth the strongest scarce arriveth to a hundred yeeres but our progenitours inordinate appetite of Divinitie and consequently of eternitie finally the terror of death ever imminent the dayly crosses in common conversation the distonsorted courses of the heavens with their influences tempests and stormes contrary to the generation and increase of fruites of the earth the disobedience of beasts the cruelty of men the craft and cosinage we dayly prove all descend from sinne and well admonish vs that if one sinne deserved so many so long so great punishments what will a multitude 29 Wicked men do not only by offences iniurie the maiestie of God but also they abuse his gifts and benefits not only like Scorpions they kill their mother before they be hatched but also like vngratefull debtours oppugne their creditours with their own goods for the vngodly vse that will God gave them to love him to hate him that wit he bestowed vpon them to meditate vpon his law commandements they pervert by thinking how to transgresse them that hart he imparted to affect their neighbours in pure love and charitie that they defile with malice and dishonestie that tongue he lent them to vtter his prayses that they blot with othes and blasphemies those hands he framed as flowing conduits to feede the poore those are wholy imployed to avarice and rapine and to be briefe that vniversall body and soule which ought to have bin kept in holines and sanctification they abuse to offend God with sinne and prevarication 30 To conclude all creatures which God created for the vse of man and as servants attended vpon him as their maister all they I say exclaime against a vitious life they are so many trumpets which cease not to sound the abuses we offer them by offending their Maker the Sunne giveth the light to worke works of light not to live in the shadow of darknes the Moone with her fecunditie inviteth thee to bring forth fruites of iustice and not iniquitie the harmonie of the heavens the multitude varietie brightnes of so many Starres and Planets exhort thee to subordinate thy soule to God to adorne thy minde with vertue to give good example and shine vnto men by a godly conversation Isay 24. 23. for otherwise in signe of revenge before the day of Mat. 24. 29. iudgement they will withdraw theyr beames fall from heaven vpon thee shew themselves as disdainefull to behold Mark 13. 24. sinners as sinners were carelesse to enioy the benefite of their influences and operations to the glory Wisd 5 18. Armabit creaturam ad vltionem immicorum of God and the profite of their soules By this it appeareth what abundance of meanes God hath imparted to vs to the intent all difficulties in the way of Vertue might with facility bee over-commed some be internall some externall some of grace some of nature some instructing the vnderstanding some inclining the affection some continuall some by turnes and to be briefe no man can say that God hath beene a niggard with him but that he hath beene vnanswerable to God The Impediments to Vertue MAn in this world standeth in the middest betwixt God and the divell both pretend to win him to their Kingdomes God to eternall pleasure Sathan to eternall payne God by his power could quickely deliver him and breake all the bondes and chaynes wherewith the divell did or doth bind him but his wisedome thought good not to admit any man of wisedome and discretion to his friendship without his ownâ— consent for as Saint Augustine saith Qui creavit te sine te non iustificabit te sine te He that created thee without thee that is thy consent or cooperation will not iustifie thee without thee that is thy consent cooperation Wherefore wee see Christ in Scriptures so often asked them whom he cured in body and healed in soule Vis Iohn 5. 6. Mat. 9. 2. 22. Luke 8. 50. sanus esse confide crede and such like speeches which signifie that hee would not cure any but them who were willing wherefore God would not oppose all his power and might against our ghostly enemies but onely such sweete meanes as might procure our assent and yet able to overthrow all the troupes of our adversaries he beats at
great dispute among Phisitians what should be the cause of the Paroxismes or fittes in Agues and once I my selfe being troubled with a tertian Ague in Italie in the Cittie of Como there came two Phisitians my deere friends and a Doctor of Diuinitie all at one time to visite me and euen then I stood in expectation of my fit After many complements discourses about my sicknes at last I demaunded these two Doctors of Phisicke that they would resolue mee in one doubt about my disease they aunswered with a good will Well sayd I you both conclude and it stands with good reason that this sicknes of mine proceedeth from excesse of choller now I would know of you when my fit is past is the choller all disguested consumed and voyded away or no If it be consumed why dooth my Ague returne if it be not consumed why dooth mine Ague depart The Phisitians here aunswered one contraâ—ie to another for the first sayd it was disguested Why then returneth mine Ague For this cause quoth he the Ague proceedeth not onely of choller but of choller putrified corrupted and poysoned Now sir the choller poysoned is consumed but other choller which remaineth is not corrupted but by the next paroxisme it will be corrupted Well sayd I what thing is that which corrupteth poisoneth that good choller which before was not corrupted It seemeth strange to me how so much precisely should be corrupted and the other beeing so neere lying by it or rather vnited with it yea mingled in it not to be infected In truth I remember not what he aunswered but I am sure he satisfied none of vs all The other Doctor of Phisicke sayd it was not consumed but nature feeling the force of that poyson vnited her selfe to fight against it and so allayed most of the vehemencie vigour and malignitie thereof and hee gaue an example of a pot of water set on the fire for quoth hee if the coales be couered with ashes the hote water cooleth blow the fire and it warmeth and boyleth let ashes returne or the fire die the water returneth to the first coldnesse So quoth hee the poyson of the choller by natures might is ouercome when the Ague departeth but after that those spirits and forces which nature had vnited are dispersed the fire is quenched and choller againe corrupted But quoth the other Phisitian so the sicknesse should neuer depart for if your choller be still in cooling and heating and nature now fighting now ceasing when I pray you shall this combat be finally ended Marry sir quoth his fellow Doctor in this sort nature mittigateth the forces of choller this fit and allayeth them now nature in the meane time is strengthned with good foode and the humour either purged or quailed with phisicke and so by little and little it is quite disguested Not so said the other for then the second fit should alwayes be lesse then the first and the third lesse then the second and so forward to the last but this is false for his third and fourth fits were much more vehement then either the first or second And besides by this declaration no man should euer die vpon an Ague For if in euery fit the sicknesse ceassed not vntill the humour were allayed then certainly in Agues which are mortall the fitte shoulde neuer passe which is most false With this the Doctor of Diuinitie who was a very good Philosopher and for that he had beene much troubled with maladies he was like manie wrangling Gentlemen a petty-fogging Phisitian at his owne costs as they be petty-fogging Lawyers thorow theyr owne sutes Why said the Diuine may we not hold that the Ague is in the liuer and hart No quoth the Phisitians both that cannot be because no Phisitian euer held that any Ague was in partibus solidis that is in the hart liuer c. except the Hecticke Well said the diuine I say not that it is in the hart and liuer immediatly for that I will confesse perforce must be choller but I say the fountaine and spring the roote and crigen to reside in the liuer the which immediatly causeth corrupted blood and inflamed choller for they beeing extraordinarily corrupted themselues with vehement heate cannot but engender blood spirits and humors of like infection and corruption And by this way I aunswere the first doubt that when the Ague ceaseth choller is diguested Why then returneth it againe Marie sir because the hart and liuer beeing out of temper in that space of time engender so many more peruerse humors as opprâ—sse nature so vehemently and dangerously that shee must imploy all her might to resist them abate them extinguish them In truth Maister Doctor said I this opinion I like very well and I will confirme it for since mine Ague first beganne these Phisitians haue inculcated nothing so much vnto me by word and deede as to coole my liuer to this effect all their syrrops and waters of Endiue Sicory and Barley tended And with this discourse wee ended our dispute mine Ague the which with this pleasant conference passed away Fiftly Plato auoucheth that Agues haue ages Plato in Dialog de Natur. like men as also consummations and ends vvith whom Galen consenteth This sentence of Plato Valesius a worthy Phisitian explicateth in this maner As there are two sorts of diseases sharpe and Valesius de Sacra Philo. cap. 7. cronicall both which haue theyr decretory daies but not alike for the sharpe haue odde dayes especially seauen the cronicall twenty sixty eightie a hundred so there are two prerogations or courses of life the one is common to many the other to fewe and such as are of a most liuely constitution both of them haue theyr Clymactericall or decretory yeeres The first wee number by seauen and nine the latter wee count by tenne and the last period is a hundred and twenty To this Discourse of Valesius lette vs adde a certayne poynt of experience and doctrine of Galen Galen lib. r. de diebus decretorijs c. 22. who in the decretorie dayes of a feuer which numbreth by seauen specially he will tell you the fourth day whether the Agew will leaue the patient the seauenth or whether hee shall die vpon the seauenth day or no and also withall hee teacheth to foretell the very houre of death vppon the seauenth day Last of all out of these considerations we may gather as much as will sufficiently I hope satisfie the Question proposed in the beginning of this Section viz why in these Clymactericall yeeres men commonly die To which I doe aunswere That for euery sixe yeeres or eight men still gather vppe more or lesse humours which prepare the way for an Agew in the seauen or nine As wee sayde before when the fitte is past the heart and liuer prepare humours for the next ensuing and in case they be not sufficient in the seauen they multiply to the nine if in this they faile then they passe to the foureteene then to eighteene c. And for this cause Physitians councell theyr Patients to purge in the Spring and Authumne to hinder the increase of humours albeit they feele themselues nothing diseased at all This we may declare by the example of them who are infected with hereditary diseases as the gowte or the stone for albeit they euidently appeere not till olde age yet in all the progresse of their yeeres the partes and humours infensibly are prepared Or wee may say that in sixe or eight yeeres the liuer and heart which are fountaines of bloud and origens of humours are so infected and corrupted that in the last yeere they engender more vnnaturall superfluous humours than can stand with the right and naturall constitution of the body But some will say by this opinion a man should euer be sicke for hee shoulde neuer want corrupted humours wherein sickenesse consisteth To this I answere first that health consisteth not in indiuisibili in an indiuisible poynt so that it admitteth not some few peccant humours withall but hath a certaine amplitude like as if into a But of strong Canary Wine a man euery moneth shoulde put in halfe a pinte of water euery day a spoonefull at the moneths end yea the yeeres end the Wine woulde be almost as potent as at the first yea and perhaps more if it bee well helped Secondly wee see that Custome breedeth qualities and alterations so insensibly as in long time till they come to a full growth they can hardly be perceiued Thirdly I doubt not but hee that hath for example the first foureteene yeere of his life for his Clymactericall in the precedent yeeres shall gather more corrupted humoures then hee whose Clymactericall yeere is nine and fortie and also feele himselfe proportionally more weake albeit hee can not well perceiue for I my selfe haue knowne a man almost with halfe his lungs rotten with a consumption and yet boldelie auowch that he was strong for Ab assuetis non fit passio Some will obiect that wee see by experience many menne die within the space of a day or two who before were as sound and whole as coulde be neyther in their vrine blood or pulse appeared any signe of sickenesse or superfluous humour To this I aunswere that such a man was eyther oppressed with some vehement Passion or some violent exercise or some other extrinsecall cause which accelerated peruerted and extraordinarily augmented the humour and so caused death for as I saide aboue although a man considering the common course of his dayes can not passe his prefixed time and Clymactericall periode yet by many meanes he may shorten it Much more I coulde say prò and contrà for this Declaration but because it were something too Physicall and not so necessarie for this Morall Treatise therefore I will bury it with silence for this poynt in very trueth is so intricate that I perceiue the best wittes are exceedingly troubled to extricate themselues out of it And therefore as this I esteeme probable so I woulde giue any Physitian most hearty thankes who in few woordes woulde teach mee a better way I sayde in briefe for I haue seene some such long tedious Discourses as I loathed to peruse them doubting lest the vncertaine profit would not repay the certaine payne Finis
heart is dilated or coarcted more or lesse Many more wayes they may be distinguished but the best and most easie division I take this to be these which I will set downe explicated after this maner First all our Passions eyther tend to some good or fly some evill if they tende to good and prosecute it then the good prosecuted may bee considered in three maners absolutely in it selfe and so we have the passion of love or as of vs to be possessed and enioyed and so we have the passions of Desire and Hope and if it bee vehement it incourageth men to attempt many difficulties often to be more bold than wise Thirdly if the thing desired be present and possessed then riseth vp the passion of Pleasure and Delight so that our affections are carryed to good thinges eyther absolutely future or present for good thinges passed although they often stirre in a man pleasure yet they are conceyved after a sorte of presence either because they were acceptfull to God then and so please him yet or for the present testimony of a good conscience for the precedent vertuous actions or finally for the credite honour and glory which remayneth with those who were witnesses of our good behaviour and godly proceedings If our Passions eschew evill eyther absolutely by hatred or some future evill by feare or some present evill by pensiuenesse and sadnesse And vnto these six love desire pleasure hatred feare and sadnesse all ordinate and inordinate Passions may easily be reduced as in every particular Treatise shal be declared Neverthelesse I can not but allowe that common division of Thomas Aquinas admitted by scholâ—sticall Doctours as very convenient because in very deede wee proove some notable differences in so many passions howbeit not essentiall but accidentall yet in my iudgement this I have betaken mee to ought to bee preferred as more easie to be perceyued more expedient to be declared and more methodicall to bee remembred Besides if every diversity or change we finde in passions were a sufficient reason to encrease their number without doubt I could adde welnie eleven more as Mercy Shamefastnesse Excandescencie Envy Emulation Anxitie Confidence Slouthfulnesse Zelotypia Exanimation Iactation or Boasting with many more And if you answere that these may bee included in those eleaven as inferior Species in their superiours even so say I those five that Thomas Aquinas putteth in the invading appetite I can reduce to those sixe I have set downe as members thereunto belonging The seate place and subiect of the Passions of the Minde CHAP. VII FIrst it cannot bee doubted of but that the passions of our mindes worke diuers effects in our faces wherefore a Poet sayd wisely O quam difficile est crimen non prodere vultu How hard is it a fault with face not to bewray And to the same effect sayd Salomon In facie prudentis Prouerb 17. lucet sapientia oculi stultorum in finibus terrae In the face of a wise man Wisedome shineth the eyes of fooles in the limittes of the land And in another place Cor hominis immutat faciem sive in bona sive in mala Eccles 13. 26. The heart of a man changeth his countenance whether it be in good or evill for in anger and feare we see men eyther extreame pale or high coloured in melancholy and sadnesse the eyes are heavy in ioy and pleasure the motions of the eyes are lively and pleasant according to the olde proverbe Cor gaudens exhilerat Proverb â— faciem a reioycing heart maketh merry the face And questionlesse wise men often thorowe the windowes of the face behold the secrets of the heart according to that saying of Salomon Quomodo in aquis Prou. 27. 1â— resplendent vultus prospicientium sic corda hominum manifesta sunt prudentibus as the faces of those which looke into waters shine vnto them so the heartes of men are manifest vnto the wise not that they can exactly vnderstand the heartes which bee inscrutable and onely open vnto God but that by coniectures they may aime well at them for as he which beholdeth his face in the water doth not discerne it exactly but rather a shadowe than a face even so he that by externall phisiognomy and operations will divine what lyeth hidden in the heart may rather conceive an image of that affection that doth raigne in the minde than a perfite and resolute knowledge yet doubtlesse this small shadow may help much Superiors or Examiners to trace out divers matters and get light of the secrets of mens affections as Alexander the great endued with this experience once prooved who after hee had wonne the citie of Tarson belonging to Darius entring vpon a hote summers day naked into the river Cydmus and Quâ—ntuâ— Curtius lib. 3. thereby catching a vehement agâ—w insomuch that hee could not proceede against his enemies which then were very neere wherefore he resolved himselfe to take some vehement medicine that presently should eyther amend him or end him An ancient Physition which from his youth had alwayes attended vppon him called Philip of Acarnon promised that he would prepare him such a potion the matter was concluded but whilest the Physition prepared the medicine Parmenio a captaine whom Alexander of all others loved and trusted most vnderstanding Alexanders determination sent him a letter disswading him by all meanes not to deale with the potion of Philip because he vnderstood he was corrupted by Darius Alexanders enemy with promise of a thousand talents and his sister in marriage that he should kill him Alexander astonied with these newes was cast into a woonderfull perplexitie Shall I adventure thought he to drinke this medicine What if it be poyson Shall I not then be accounted the cause of mine owne death Shall I suspect the fidelitie of my Physition Or shall I suffer my enemy to kill me in my bedde While he was in this deliberation the Physitian brought him the potion When the King sawe him he raysed himselfe vpon his elbow and taking his letter in his left hand with the other hand hee tooke the cuppe and strait supped it off when he had done so hee delivered the letter to Philip to reade and whilest hee was reading he beheld him continually in the face supposing that if hee had bin faulty some token would have appeared in his countenance when Philip had read the letter he shewed more tokens of displeasantnesse than of feare the which with the loving words of the Physitian assured Alexander of his servants fidelity and caused him not onely to reiect all feare of death but also to conceyve an extrarodinary hope of amendment as indeede not long after it proved By this example superiours may learne to coniecture the affections of their subiectes mindes by a silent speech pronounced in their very countenances And this poynt especially may bee observed in women whose passions may easily be discovered sor as harlots by the light and wanton motions of
direct not my tongue manage not my wit move not my will without thy continual effectual and principal influence neither my heart can breathe my stomack disgest my pulses move my liver make concoction or any part of my body suck the vitall nourishment which restoreth lost forces and keepeth my life in continuance And therefore I may well say that thou art as necessary to preserve my being as in first imparting of it and as requisite to any thing I can do as my very soule substance and faculties which are principles of doing And therefore with what love should I incessantly affect thee who have such dependance vpon thee There be some fishes which presently dye if once they be taken out of the water no doubt but much more speedily should both my body and soule perish and be brought to nothing thing if they were not environed on every side above below within and without with the omnipotent vertue of thine immensive Maiesty The 13. Motive to Love which is the pardoning of Iniuries ALthough every vertue rendreth a man amiable yet some there be so immediately grounded vpon the base of love as liberality and magnificencie vpon goodnes and amity that they ravish wholy leade mens affections towards them for that by them love bountie powre out themselves by communication of what they have to others Contrarywise some other vertues so fortifie and establish a man in goodnes that they arme him invincibly and make him most potent either by mildnes not to perceive any Iniuries or so corroborate him with patience that he cannot or will not revenge them When Mary had murmured against Moses and for the foulenesse of her fault God who was most zealous of his servants estimation had stricken her with a loathsome leaprie Moses as the scripture reporteth Num. 12. being the mildest man vpon earth could not suffer this iust punishment to be inflicted vpon her but presently demaunded of God that he would cure her Whereas it seemeth that he neither perceived the Iniury nor could indure the Revenge And in very deede it cannot but proceede from a noble magnanimious minde to contemne all base iniuries offered and to disdaine to repay condignely their deserts for whomsoever I iniure I impayre either his estimation or his riches or his body or his soule he then that can tollerate such harmes sheweth himselfe superior to all that fortune or nature can affoord Alexander the great went to visite Dioâ—enes the cynicall Philosopher who would not vouchsafe to visit him and demanded of him if he had need of any thing Yes marrie quoth Diogenes who satte in his philosophicall barrell that thou stand from before mee and hinder not the Sunne from comming to me Alexander was exceedingly delighted with this answere and so wondered at the maiestie of this Philosophers minde that after his departure perceiving his Nobles and Minions to mocke and ieast at such a satyricall and exoticall answere vnto their Emperour Well well quoth Alexander you may say what you will but I assure you if I were not Alexander I would wish to be Diogenes For hee desired in his heart to surmount all men and esteeme nothing and here he found Diogenes make none account of him whom hee deemed all the world feared and trembled to heare of But yet Alexander prooved not Diogenes one step further for if he had reviled him if he had whipped him divers other wayes iniuried him then he might have sayd in deede he was arrived at the haven of happinesse if he had tollerated them with patience and neither by deed word nor thought meditated or intended revenge for it is not so hard for a man to contemne that he hath not as to despise all he hath and patiently to suffer himselfe to be dispoyled of all he hath and besides in body to be afslicted as Iob or to be blinded as Tobie or cast in prison as Ioseph If Alexander so prized Diogenes vayne contempt proceeding from a popular bravado rooted in a private pride how would he have esteemed Saint Peter and the rest of the Apostles who left all and followed Christs innocencye tollerating with invincible patience a sea of afflictions crosses and iniuries But thou O blessed Saviour who ecclipsed thy Maiesty with our mortall ignominies and forsooke the vse of no Macedonian Empire but of the vniversall world to whom the vse as well as the dominion belonged for in the hemme of thy garmeÌ„t we finde writteÌ„ Apoc. 19. Rex Regum and Dominus Dominantium the King of Kings and Lord of Lords that is one of the basest graces and priviledges graunted to thine humanitie wherewith thy Divinitie as with a scarlet roabe was vayled was the proprietie and dominion over the world yet for all this ample inheritance over Iewe and Gentile thou hadst not so much house to cover thy head as Foxes which hold their holes and Birds that in fee-simple keepe their neasts What iniuries O sweet Iesu have sinfull soules exhaled breathed nay darted out against thy sacred humanitie frustrating it for as much as in them layd of all those noble effects which thou deserved for vs by thy most bitter death and passion and yet thou art so armed with humble mildnesse and compassion of heart that thou by internall favours and externall benefits cherishes them as though thou wert nothing offended with them but rather with opportune kindnesse seemes to contend with their importune malice with invincible patience exspecting their repentance What wrongs do wee offer every moment thy soveraigne Divinitie by transgressing thy commaundements and thereby iniurying all the attributes of thy Divine Maiesty And yet no sooner the prodigall childe sayeth peccavi O Father I have offended but thou falls vpon him with kisses and customarie favours forgetting his former follies no sooner the sinfull Magdalen batheth thy feete with mournefull teares but thou bathes her breast with pardoning ioyes Ah my God of all goodnes and mercy what shall I preferre in thee the benefits I have received from thy hands or the not present revenging of iniuries thou hast received from my hart for in them thou communicated thy goodnes conformably vnto thy will here thou sustayned dishonour against thy will that tended to glorifie thee and perfit vs this impugneth thee and destroyeth vs iniuries were violent benefits connaturall iniuries issued from corruption and aymed at destruction benefits proceeded from mercie and aymed at the reliefe of miserie iniuries deserved infamie and benefits recognition glory wherein then didst thou shew more love bounty in conferring benefits or pardoning iniuries Questionles in pardoning iniuries for temporall favours and spirituall graces all except Christs incarnation his merits and death argue but a limited greatnes not infinit because a gift amongst men is thought to proceed from a proportionable love vnto the gift as for example if a king give a 1000. pound we valew his love to the person who receiveth such a benefit in the degree of the
base and drudging life Besides if all creatures by the instinct of Nature endevor so much to win theyr full and compleat perfection why should we degenerate so farre from our owne nature as not to accomplish that we lacke marke but the seede cast into the ground how it laboureth to die after to live how it fixeth his rootes pierceth the ground to enioy the Sunne and ayre erecteth the stem springs the huskes issues the eare yeelds with the wind and never giveth over till the corne bee brought to a full maturity we see how new wines beere and all liquors worke by boyling the rawer parts expelling the dregs reducing themselves to a due temper proportionated mixture and perfection if these insensible creatures so industriously labor to come to theyr end shal not we endevour to atchieve our end and felicity If they according to theyr small ability imploy theyr naturall talentes why should not wee endued with so many graces procure our owne good and perfection Why standeth God at Apoc. 3. 20. the doores of our heart beating but to enter in Why doe Gods servants crye out vpon our negligence but Iere. 25. 34. to bring vs to diligence Why doth God punish many in the prime of theyr yeeres in the fatte of theyr fortune in the glory of theyr prosperitye but to advertise vs by theyr examples of the inconstancy of this world and that wee might learne to bee wise by theyr losses to be vigilant and carefull by their carelesnesse Some more Impediments I could deliver as the many occasions offred dayly to do ill the great readinesse of matter and favourers thereof the insatiable desire possesseth our heartes of inordinate pleasures the admirable diligence in procuring temporall treasures the extreame delight all men conceyve in theyr owne actions the great account and estimation they do make of them how soone they despise or abase the enterprises of others how perverse and obstinate they live in their own opinions I could I say make long discourses vpon these particular obiects but that they may all be reduced to selfe-love inordinate Passions the world and the divell of which we have intreated largely before onely I will here adioyne the reason and cause of all this Treatise why we having so many meanes so forcible so divine Mat. 7. 15. 20. 16. 1. Pet. 4. 18. so continuall so supernaturall to serve God to follow Vertue to fly sinne and scarce halfe so many impediments leading vs to vice and vngodlinesse yet for one that doth well thousands doe ill and for one that goes to Heaven almost a million goes to hell and that the difficulty may seeme more apparant adde another consideration questionlesse all vniversall effectes proceede from vniversall causes as we see all men die therefore we gather that all have a Nature corruptible all men are subiect to Passions preventing and dissenting from reason therefore we inferre that Nature is corrupted even so since most men doe ill and few good and after this tenour in all Countries and Nations therefore we must finde out some generall cause Some will say that this proceedeth from originall sinne whereby our nature remayned corrupted and therefore prone to evill slow to good this reason indeede toucheth some remote cause but yet it doth not fully satisfie first because we have set downe all the internall effects and impious of-springs of originall sinne and yet they can not amount or countervaile the number of those helps we have to do good Besides it ought to be declared how originall sinne hath so infected nature that it is so feeble to vertue and so strong to vice for all the wounds which internally moove vs to sinne reside either in the wit will or sensitive appetite the which we have conferred with those stayes both God and good nature hath bestowed vpon vs to do well Furthermore by the passion of Christ his merits grace originall sinne is forgiven vs who by baptisme have put Gala. 3. 27. Ephes 5. 6. Tit. 3. 5. Eze 33. 12. Ioel. 2. 25. Ephes â— 5. Eze. 36. 26. Psal 33. 8. Psal 90. 13. on Christ he hath restored vnto vs his former favours adopted vs for children changed hearts of stone into hearts of flesh fortified our soules against vice enabled our faculties against sinne protected and guarded vs about with Angels for our defence against Sathan that our feet should not be stayed in the way of vertue by blocks stones our ghostly enemies cast in the narrow way that leadeth to heaven to hinder our voyage or frustrate our designements Therefore to conclude this matter I resolve my selfe that we have more meanes to do good then occasions to do ill and them also of their nature to be more forcible and potent neverthelesse for foure reasons more men are wicked then vertuous first for lack of prudent meditations secondly for ill education thirdly for palpable present delectation lastly for defect of due prefervation I meane first that men miscarrie so often in this peregrination for lack of good consideration because most of those meanes God hath vouchsafed to bestow vpon vs require a certaine meditation and ponderation for they be like hot coales the which you may take in your hands and presently cast away without burning because all actions welnie require time or space for their operations but if you hold them a while you shall feele their effects So it falleth forth in the mysteries of our faith he that meditateth burneth he that perfunctorily runneth over them scarse feeleth their heate In meditatione mea sayth David exardescit ignis in my Psal 38. 3. prayer fire is kindled because meditation bloweth the coales by consideration whereunto followeth the flame of love and affection for otherwise what profit can we take of the inconstancie of our lives and certaintie of our deaths of the severe and infallible iudgement of God the inexplicable paynes of hell the ineffable ioyes of heaven if we never consider them What availeth vs to have the scriptures that God punished in this life so many with extraordinary deaths that by sinnes we are spoyled of grace wounded in nature disenabled to goodnes incited to ilnes if we never ruminate them in our minds or ponder them in our considerations Questionlesse it were to swallow meate without chewing which rather endammageth health then restoreth the lost forces Wherefore I like well those wise godly men which every day allot themselves a certaine time stinting their howers for meditation propounding before the eyes of their consideration now one mysterie now an other now the passions of Christ then the pangs of death now the strict iudgements and punishments of God then the eternall delights layd vp for vs in his heavenly Paradice these therefore like fruitfull Psal 1. â— trees planted by the river sides render their fruites in due season these arme themselves in the morning to resist all encounters which may occurre the day time these be